Factors that shaped Galle port’s varying fortune

• The Government has announced plans to spend US$ 175 million to US$ 200 million on this ambitious four-year project. It will be executed by a private and public sector partnership with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority as the facilitator
• When the Portuguese arrived in 1505, they built a fort. But it was when the Dutch took Galle in 1640, that the fort and the city rose to great heights. Galle became second only to Batavia (modern Jakarta) in the Dutch Asian empire

Busy as a beehive when the Portuguese, Dutch and the British were ruling the roost in Ceylon, Galle port became a sleepy backyard at the end of the 19th Century due to factors beyond its control. It was little more than a secondary port of call throughout the 20th Century. But change is on the cards now.   

There are clear signs of a revival of the port, not just as another commercial hub, but as an international leisure hub, a centre for waters ports and a destination for luxury cruises. With the blue waters of the palm-fringed bay as a picturesque setting, Galle port is to be developed as a yachting hub. Perhaps the idea of a makeover of this sort stemmed from the fairly recent development of the Dutch-built Galle Fort area as a quaint replica of a ‘European’ outpost, which has been attracting European tourists nostalgic about their imperial past.   

Government has announced plans to spend US$ 175 million to US$ 200 million on this ambitious four-year project. It will be executed by a private and public sector partnership with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority as the facilitator. Both domestic and foreign investors are to be welcomed. The project includes construction of two offshore breakwaters to maintain calmness in the Galle Bay and harbour, and state of the art accommodation for large cruise ships. Scuba diving and reef exploration will be facilitated. In addition, the rich heritage of Galle city (mainly Dutch) will be show-cased. Reclamation of 40 acres of land will also be undertaken as was done for the Colombo Port City. 

Medieval Port

Galle port’s commercial fortunes have varied over time. Among factors shaping the port’s 500-year history were its geographic location and the prevailing technology, geo-economics and geo-politics.According marine archaeologist Lt.Com. (Rtd) Somasiri Devendra, author of From Wooden Walls to Ironclads: Galle Enters the Age of Steam, Galle port became prominent in the medieval era. The great Chinese Admiral Zheng He, had commemorated his visit in 1411 by leaving a tri-lingual inscription in Chinese, Tamil and Arabic, indicating Galle’s cosmopolitan trading population. When the Portuguese arrived in 1505, they built a fort. But it was when the Dutch took Galle in 1640, that the fort and the city rose to great heights. Galle became second only to Batavia (modern Jakarta) in the Dutch Asian empire.When the British took over in 1796, they retained Galle’s Dutch ambience, but the port became more active thanks to Pax Britannica which spurred commercial activity globally. 

Rocky Bottom

While Galle port gave shelter, danger lurked under its waters. The reefs and rocks at the entrance to the harbour caused shipwrecks making the bay a graveyard of many vessels.The port was also exposed to the southwest monsoon. Devendra says that though there were pilots to steer the ships through the obstructions, there were instances of ships sinking while waiting for the pilot to arrive. Between 1860 and 1866, three Peninsular and Oriental (P & O)vessels, including Malabar, had sunk. And between 1872 and 1875, three more vessels Rangoon, Agra and Effort, had gone down. By 1998, archaeologists had spotted 26 wrecks, he says. According to one account, removal of dangerous rocks might have been discouraged by a local belief that such disruption would cause the Galle fort to sink.Today, however, the port is much safer, and the shipwrecks of the past area marine archaeaologist’s or a diver’s delight.   

Till the end of the 19th Century, Galle had a lead over other ports in Ceylon, because it was pat on the main West-East shipping route. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, increased traffic. But the onset of bigger steamers demanded greater space and other facilities in ports. According to Devendra, huge quantities of coal were required by the steamers. For example,the 150 HP Ida Pfeiffer consumed more than one ton of coal every hour. Previous ships used 50 tons a day. And coal did not come cheap. Devendra says that in the 1850s, Galle imported 50,000 tons of coal a year from Britain. A Galle entrepreneur, Simon Perera Abeywardena, supplied coal and water to the vessels and also made a business of salvaging material from shipwrecks.   

P&O ships carrying mail became more numerous as there was a demand for frequent and speedier communication in the British Empire after the Suez Canal was built. The demand for overseas mail was met by Burgher entrepreneurs Johanna Morris, Dr. P. D. Anthonisz and Henry Andre, who started the Galle Royal MailCoach Service with W. F. Jansz as the manager. Steamers from China, Australia and Bombay, together with numerous ships laden with coal gave the Galle harbour “a lively appearance, adding much to its natural beauty.” The Ceylon Steamship Company’s “Lady ships” with names like Lady McCallum and Lady Havelock,called at Galle as they went around the island carrying passengers and cargo. 

Governor William Gregory 

As global shipping increased and became better thanks to technological improvements, Galle port found it difficult to meet growing demands from larger ships, because of the natural obstacles at the entrance. When Sir William Gregory became Ceylon Governor in 1872, he decided to build a safe, larger and a modern harbour in Colombo rather than make a futile bid to improve or expand Galle port. He had himself witnessed a shipwreck at Galle harbour. B. Bastiampillai writes in his book The Administration of Sir William Gregory that the vessel Peshawar which was bringing Gregory’s luggage had bumped against the rocky bottom.   

Gregory pressed the Colonial Office in London to approve construction of the Colombo harbour. The Colonial Office was favourable and Sir John Coode was appointed Consultant Engineer. In May 1873, John Kyle was made Resident Engineer. But the British Treasury refused to fund the venture as the shipping lines plying in the Britain-Far East-Australia route favored Galle because of its location, and wanted Galle to be improved. But Gregory, backed by the Board of Trade, argued that Galle could not be improved and that it would be more sensible to build a safe port in Colombo which would also serve Ceylon’s export-oriented plantation sector better. Unlike Galle, Colombo was well connected with the coffee-growing districts by rail. Gregory also pointed out that ships would be able to enter Colombo port at any time and coaling could be done at the pier, which was not possible in Galle. Most importantly, wrecks were few and far between off Colombo.   

Gregory also felt that Colombo would better serve India’s ports on the West coast such as Bombay (present Mumbai) . In the 1870s, the British Empire in India had reached its high point making India the “jewel in the British crown”.   

Eventually Gregory won. As Bastiampillai wrote, the Governor’s persistent appeals, backed by the Colonial Office’s consistent support, and the Board of Trade’s and the Admiralty’s expert opinions wore own the Treasury. After a correspondence of a year and a half, and strong hesitation, a loan of 50,000 pounds was promised. As the breakwater was estimated to cost 630,000 pounds, the Ceylon government had to provide the balance through a loan in the open market. In 1875, the Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone and construction began in right earnest. Shipping companies shifted to Colombo as its port became, in Bastiampillai’s words, “one of the best harbours to serve Easter shipping.” 

Galle didn’t die

But Galle port did not die. During World Wars I and II, and also during the long war against the LTTE, Galle port played a critical part as a backup port. It became the HQ of the Southern Naval Command. It helped operationalize the Rubber-Rice Pact with China in the 1950s, served the Prima Flour Company and brought clinker to the Cement Factory. Today, it is set to be a pleasure hub for cruises and yachting.